meal worms

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
8 months? It only took mine 5-6 months and from then on I pretty much had an unlimited supply. I started with 600 and kept them at room temperature. I made sure to feed them every week and remove any pupae that show up in a seperate container. It only took me about 10 minutes a week. Now I have around 3,000 worms and an uncountable number of breeding beetles.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
8 months? It only took mine 5-6 months and from then on I pretty much had an unlimited supply. I started with 600 and kept them at room temperature. I made sure to feed them every week and remove any pupae that show up in a seperate container. It only took me about 10 minutes a week. Now I have around 3,000 worms and an uncountable number of breeding beetles.

WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING THEM EVERY WEEK???? I THOUGHT THE BRAN WAS THERE FOOD AND THE APPLES/CARROTS WERE FOR MOISTURE....

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

I keep them in chicken layer and I feed them potatoes/lettuce/bananas every week. Nothing special, but the higher temperature makes them grow much faster.

 

[rhaj]

I am wondering if potatoes and lettuce would be better than apples then... I am starting to get some fruitflies!

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
i recently read that mealworms and the darkling beetle are one of the casuses of marek's. my concern is that if one or more of these worms are not eaten and turn into a beetle that lays literally hundred of eggs, then you may get these worms started in your chicken house and they would be breeding in poop, not in the controlled condition and therefore could transmit diseases. i am also concerned with the worms listed as a cause of marek's. i started with only 100 worms and now have so many. it has not taken mine very long to go through the different stages. i'm so undersided as to whether it is safe to fed these worms, however the chickens just love them. what about hearing from some of you as to what you think of the worms were are raising being one of the causes of mareks. has anyone asked a poultry vet as to what they think<<<<< thanks

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Mealworms are found in flour mills, and need quite a constant supply of food to morph into a beetle. I doubt a dropped worm will live long enough in soil to pupate into a beetle, and then somehow find a mate of the opposite sex and lay eggs. And once those eggs are laid in the dirt, there's plenty of very small predatory mites that will happily feed on beetle eggs.